Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is nobody who would wish to cast an eye on it. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has said that, when they are doing a review of the equal start later this year, there will be that opportunity to take it on. The other side of this is that there is a role for every one of the city and county childcare committees to ensure there is best practice, and that does not need to be regulated and legislated for. Best practice is ensuring we have open and transparent admissions policies, progress policies and how groups are actually supported and funded. To me, the big piece here is we have fantastic providers, and I hear clearly what the Senator is saying. She is not asking nor looking for extra powers to be put upon a bureaucratic system. What she is saying is there needs to be more openness and transparency. I do not believe in the complaints mechanism, because when a person enters a complaint, he or she is nearly out the door anyway because the goodwill and the trust have broken down. There has to be that admissions piece. There has to be a clear understanding. City and council childcare committees could play a role here.